AFC South coaches use offseason to neutralize Watt

The teams in the AFC South will be looking for ways to slow down J.J. Watt. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

The head coaches for the Texans’ AFC South rivals believe they have to find players who can neutralize defensive end J.J. Watt if they hope to overtake the two-time defending division champion.

No one knows how important it is to game plan for Watt more than Tennessee coach Mike Munchak, who played left guard for the Oilers during a 12-year career that earned him membership into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“When you’re drafting, you’re thinking, ‘Who’s going to block Watt the next 10 years?’ ” Munchak said recently. “It used to be that the other teams in the division had to worry about (Indianapolis quarterback) Peyton Manning, but now we have to figure out how we’re going to disrupt Watt a little bit.”

The Titans are rebuilding the interior of their offensive line in free agency and the draft. They signed Buffalo veteran Andy Levitre to play left guard.

Depending on how it breaks down, the Titans could have Fernando Velasco or Rob Turner at right guard next to longtime right tackle David Stewart. They also signed veteran guard Chris Spencer as a free agent.

It takes a group effort

It won’t be a surprise if Tennessee general manager Ruston Webster, who has signed 12 free agents to deals worth more than $100 million, uses the 10th overall pick on a right guard like Alabama’s Chance Warmack or North Carolina’s Jonathan Cooper to combat Watt.

“I don’t think it’s just one guy,” Munchak said. “If we did draft a (right guard), it wouldn’t be someone who can block Watt (by himself). It’s more of a group effort.

“I think it’s more about your scheme and how you’re going to play him. Not only is he great against the run, but he’s a tremendous pass rusher. … He’s also got that great knack for knocking down passes. You have to be concerned with that part of his game, too. He can process it all fast enough to make the right decision.”

Watt, who led the league with 201/2 sacks, was voted the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in only his second season.

“A great player that’s very disruptive,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said in describing Watt. “He can do so many things to hurt you. He has to be accounted for.

“He had a great game against us (in the Texans’ victory at Reliant Stadium). He really caused us some problems. Fortunately, we did a better job in the second game (a Colts victory).”

New Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley was the defensive coordinator at Seattle last season. The Seahawks didn’t play the Texans, but Bradley saw enough of Watt on tape and television to know that containing Watt must be a priority.

“There are certain guys that create certain issues,” Bradley said. “And Watt creates a lot of issues. You have to have personnel to control some of those issues.

“He can dominate the game. You have to be aware of him. You’d like to think that it’s all about what we do, and there’s a lot of truth to that on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But on Wednesday, players have to understand the issues: ‘Hey, this guy’s good. Here’s our plan for him,’ and everybody has to understand it.”

‘It’ll be a chess match’

Watt will spend a lot of time preparing for what opponents have in store for him. They will have had an offseason to acquire talent and to devise strategies to try to keep from being dominated like last season.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how teams are going to game plan for J.J. considering the kind of season he had,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “The key to that is how do we expand our use of (Watt)?”

That will be up to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and assistant head coach/defensive line Bill Kollar.

“Wade’s creative, and it’ll be a chess match,” Kubiak said. “We have to keeping improving on our end. I don’t have any doubt that we will.

“J.J. loves it. He’s so competitive. Any great player wants to be challenged, wants to do more. I know he’ll embrace that.”